There Be Ajins
by cosmic-divinity
Summary: Basically an Ajin shrek au with Kei as a lone Ajin in the mountains while Prince Satou rounds up the Ajin of the area for his evil plans. While on the run from his soldiers, Kou accidentally ends up in Kei's mountains where he's confronted by an angry and disgruntled Ajin. Together, they go on a quest to save a prince who may or may not be an Ajin.
1. Chapter 1

A light breeze blew through the trees of the surrounding forest of the mountains. The air had a placid calmness to it, quiet besides the rustling sounds of the leaves every time the wind swept through. Within these mountains and acres of forest that lined the landscape, there lay a small clearing and a small house with a pond wrapping around the back of it. For miles around, it is the only habitation in those mountains. Within the house, lived a young man, who looked to be relatively normal despite being an Ajin. The Ajin started out gradually popping up within the general population of the kingdom. They possess a great and terrifying power of controlling an entity they can summon, which people are calling black ghosts along with being immortal. If they're slain, they will simply stand back up again. Kei Nagai is the lone inhabitant of the house in the mountains and a feared Ajin. He guards the area heavily with his ghost which can be seen from time to time roaming idly through the woods. If it hears one sound of a potential intruder, it'll go charging in that direction. Kei rarely had to venture to the outskirts in order to guard his territory. Therefore, the kingdom and surrounding villages left him alone. He even had his ghost set up signs and barbed wire along the border where the mountains began. Kei enjoyed his peaceful life. It may be seen as boring and lonely to others, but to him, it was perfect and gave him complete serenity.

Outside of Kei's safe haven, the kingdom outside of the mountains was changing. The current king who had been ruling for many years had suddenly passed away, and a man by the name of Lord Satou had taken over the main palace along with his own group of advisors which resembled more of a rag tag team. Things were slowly escalating into a turmoil as he was passing new policies and laws specifically on Ajin. Satou wanted any known Ajins to be rounded up and relocated to an Ajin area in the palace.

"It's for safety reasons. It's for the safety of the Ajin of course. I'm aware of the attacks and discrimination against them." That was his reasoning behind these new laws and was met with thunderous applause.

Kou Nakano lived in a village near the mountains. He had heard a few stories about the lone Ajin that lived up in those mountains: the one everyone feared. He found himself staring at the nearby mountain as he walked through the small town on an errand. His day was going along like it usually did. He'd probably share a few drinks with the land lord later and maybe go visit the girl that always winked at him when he went past her house. He wore the same goofy smile he did when he thought about it when his vision suddenly went dark as he fell onto the ground hard due to a shovel promptly colliding with his skull.

When he came to, he found himself in the middle of the woods in some sort of camp. He was in some sort of wagon, but his wrists were tied together behind his back, making him groan when the rope rubbed the skin there raw. His vision was still a bit blurry as he was still coming to, blurry figures slowly coming into focus.

"He's an Ajin. I swear! I've seen him looking at things that aren't there. He's just strange in general," a young woman's voice said.

Kou felt his heart sink when he saw that the person turning him in was the girl that always smiled and winked at him.

 _Figures.._

"But he's not a known Ajin? You can't just say someone's strange and immediately jump to them being an Ajin." A tall man with dark slicked back hair sat at a make shift desk with papers in front of him. He glanced over at Kou with some interest.

"I saw him fall off the roof of a rather tall building, Mr. Tanaka. He laid still for a moment then got back up. It wasn't natural," she said quickly.

"Fine, test him," he said to a guard, motioning to Kou.

"W-wait, let's not be hasty," Kou stammered, wriggling and trying desperately to break free.

Just when the guard pulled out a sword, Kou managed to sit up and get on his feet and was about to make a run for it when the sword was plunged through his chest. A gurgling choking sound came from his throat before his eyes rolled back a few seconds later. His hands desperately clung to the blade tightly until they were bleeding, blood running down it and dripping form the handle. Instead of trying to pull it from his grasp, the guard simply let go of the sword and let the other slide it out. Kou was still for a moment before he suddenly gasped for breath, still clutching onto the sword.

"So he is an Ajin. Alright, arrest him and put him in the cart with the others," Tanaka said with another motion of his hand.

Kou soon sprung onto his feet, using the blade of the sword to cut through the ropes tying his wrists together. He looked around frantically, trying to think up a way he could possibly escape or where he could go. Lord Satou's kingdom stretched far and wide. It's not like he could really go anywhere without being pursued. He'd be a registered Ajin now.

 _The mountains! The one place they won't go._

Without further thought, Kou bolted in the direction of the mountains. The lone thought in his mind was simply getting as far away as he could. The mountains had its own dangers, but that was the furthest thing from his mind right now. Anything was better than being captured with the other Ajins.

"After him," Tanaka said simply, sending about five guards.

Even when Kou made it into the mountain forest, they still chased after him. Kou was busy whipping his head back to look behind him, making sure they weren't getting too close. Suddenly, the wind was nearly knocked out of him as he collided with something very tall and solid. It took him a moment to open his eyes and gasped as he gazed up at a tall shadowy figure standing over him. However, its gaze was taken off of Kou at the arrival of the five guards that stopped in their tracks.

"Intruders.." it muttered.

"Uh, look, I'm just running away from them. See, there's this Ajin hunt going on.."

"Shut it," it snapped at Kou and started to walk towards the guards.

All of their faces had turned pale as they slowly backed up away from it.

"Why don't you just fuck off already? This is the part where you run away" it hissed and lunged at them, claws out and ready.

As soon as it moved, they took off screaming and running in the other direction. Kou breathed a sigh of relief and slowly got back on his feet.

"Wow, you're amazing..uh, whatever you are," he said with a goofy grin but took a few steps back when it turned towards him. "Uh, I swear I'm not here to like take over your land or anything."

"Is that so? Then why are you here, and why were you being chased by those guards? Usually, people know better than to trespass here."

Kou jumped when he heard another voice behind him and saw a boy around his age with short dark hair and vibrant scarlet eyes walking over from behind a tree.

"What are you doing in my mountains?" he asked again, crossing his arms.


	2. Chapter 2

"W-wait, are you serious? I was just running for my life, and you just saved me by taking down those soldiers like a bad ass!" Kou was hoping some praise might make him less pissed off, but nothing seemed to be working.

"Yes, I did. Now that there's no one chasing you, you can leave. So kindly leave out the way you came. I don't like trespassers." Kei's voice was still filled with malice, but Kou felt more at ease now that the tall shadowy figure was gone. Still, those red eyes were always on him, urging him to turn around and leave.

"Now, hold on. I can't just leave. Those guys are still out there in that camp. I'll probably just get snatched again the moment I go back out into the open. Please, could you at least have a bit of compassion?" Kou gulped as he stood his ground even with the unnerving feeling that the shadowy thing was still around.

"Don't try my patience. Stick around here any longer, and you'll get torn apart like those soldiers," Kei said, his words filled with venom.

"Uh, well, you can, but I'll just get up again. I keep telling you that I'm an Ajin. I can't permanently die," Kou said, backing up slightly when he saw it again.

"What a pain…" it whispered.

Before Kou could get another word in, it suddenly lunged forward. One of its clawed hands jutted forward and pierced right through Kou's chest. There was a split second where everything stood still, drops of blood dripping from the end of the claws.

"Not again," Kou choked out followed by a gurgled cough that sent blood running down his chin. He dropped to the ground the instant the figure pulled its claws out of him before disappearing again.

"Good riddance," Kei huffed and was starting to walk away when he heard a rustling and pained groan from the boy he just watched die. In amazement, he watched as he got back onto his feet, a dark substance pouring out from his wounds.

"See? I told that I'm an Ajin, like you. You can hate me all you want, but you can't get rid of me that way. I just need a place to hide for a little while, and then I'll be out of here," he said, breathing heavily as his body repaired itself.

"So, you are an Ajin. Tough luck because I'm still not letting you stay here. What happens out there is not my problem." Kei waved him off as he turned and walked the other way. "I'm guessing you're clueless when it comes to controlling your ghost otherwise you would've defended yourself."

"It's your problem too, you know!" With a look of determination, Kou followed after him. "Once they start going into these mountains, they'll get you too. I hear rumors that Satou himself is an Ajin, but he wants control over all the other Ajins. I'm sure it won't be long until he has soldiers moving into this area. What will you do then? Continue to ignore them?"

"I'll do what I must if it comes to that. For now, it's not my problem, so leave before I have to kill you again."

Kou stopped when he heard the distinct sound of footsteps a little ways behind them. He assumed it had to be more soldiers. Maybe they were finally starting to make their way into these mountains. When he turned around, he saw a small crowd of people. Many of them were bruised and looked like they had been in the fight of their lives. They must've been other Ajins that escaped. They probably followed him into this area for safety.

"Oh great, you brought more. Hey! All of you need to leave. I'm not taking visitors. Not now, not ever," Kei shouted over to them. They cowered when his ghost appeared again but stood their ground.

"Please, young man, we have nowhere else to go. We need a safe place to hide. They'll capture us if we go back," an elderly woman spoke up. She kept her hands out to show that she wasn't a threat.

Kei sighed loudly as he pinched the bridge of his nose in annoyance. Dealing with another kid was one thing, but this was a whole crowd of people, very stubborn people apparently. His ghost was what kept people from coming into this area, but they seemed unafraid of what it could do.

"You know what? Fine, I don't have the time or patience to kick you all out right now. Follow me if you want. I don't care."

Kou smiled happily and signaled to the others to follow as Kei trudged forward.

"Oh, my name is Kou by the way."

"Kei. And it is far from being a pleasure. Don't expect to stay here for very long."

Tanaka wore his usual scowl as he walked through the halls of the palace. Today had been going great until that Ajin kid escaped along with a good portion of the Ajin they had captured. Satou certainly wouldn't be happy, but he wondered why he was suddenly called to the palace. The messenger had mentioned something about a new discovery that Satou was excited about it. Maybe he could use that to keep the events that happened today a secret. They could confront the Ajin in the mountains later.

"Tanaka! Welcome back!" Satou greeted him as soon as he entered the throne room. He saw that he was the final one to arrive. Everyone else was gathered in front of some big object covered by a sheet.

"My king," Tanaka said with a courteous bow. He stood next to Okuyama who looked to the covered object with some interest.

"Any idea on what that thing is?" Tanaka asked.

"Satou says it's some kind of magical object. Other than that, I got nothing."

"Gentlemen, now that we're all here. It's time for the big reveal!" They watched as Satou walked right in front of the object and pulled the sheet down. It billowed with the sudden motion before slowly fluttering down to reveal a giant mirror.

"Well, it's certainly a grand decoration," Gen whispered to Takahashi.

"So, why a mirror?" Tanaka asked. What could they possibly use this mirror for?

"It's not just some regular old mirror, Tanaka. This is a magical mirror. Observe."

The four of them gave each other odd looks before looking back over to Satou and the mirror. It looked like he was saying something to it. The air around it seemed to change, and a masked face appeared in the mirror.

"You have awakened me. What is it you ask of me?" the voice was deep and seemed to penetrate Tanaka's very core. He found himself backing away from it slowly.

"Reveal to me the threat to my kingdom. I know it's out there. I just need to know who or what it is," Satou said to it. He wore his usual smile, unperturbed by the mirror.

"Ah, yes, I see a young prince who could be the undoing of your rule here. Whether he is Ajin or human is still unknown. He seeks to unite the two. Humans and Ajins working together will certainly be your undoing."

"Reveal him to me, then."

The mask in the mirror disappeared into a puff of smoke and was soon replaced by an image. It was of a young man sitting in a tower surrounded by a lake of lava.

"The volcanic mountains to the south," Tanaka murmured, recognizing the location.

"But beware for this prince is guarded by a fearsome beast who lurks in the Keep. I'd suggest bringing your best champion."

"I'm sure we'll figure something out. Now, I have no further need for you. Goodbye." Satou waved off the mirror. "Put it away in the dungeon or somewhere of the like." A pair of guards walked in and began to drag the mirror away as Satou thought about everything the mirror said.

"I can go after the prince. There's no need to go through the trouble of finding a champion," Tanaka spoke up, approaching Satou with some caution.

"Now, now, there's no need to rush into this, Tanaka. I think holding a tournament would be fun, don't you think?"

"Oh, o-of course, sir. We will get started right away with the preparations."

Once they were dismissed, Tanaka's frown only increased. What was the point in holding a tournament when they could go after the prince right now? It was only a waste of time, but he knew better than to get inbetween Satou and his games. He'd put up with it for now.


End file.
